Auchendinny

Gross development value:

£75m

Allocated in LDP:

350 units

Laying the groundwork for a groundbreaking development

A 68.5 acre farmland site was acquired, unconditionally, in January 2013. The strategy was to promote the site for residential development through the Local Development Plan (LDP) process. Pre-acquisition, extensive diligence was undertaken to ascertain the viability of developing the site and the costs involved. Discussions took place with the Local Authority and other key stakeholders to enable us to assess the prospects of achieving a change of use planning consent at some point in the short to medium term.

Securing the site for development

After extensive public consultation, we submitted a detailed proposal to Midlothian Council promoting the site for an allocation in the LDP for residential development. Discussions took place with various Council departments, in particular education, as the provision of a site for a primary school was a key consideration. The site has now been allocated in the recently adopted LDP for 350 residential units and includes a site for a new primary school.

Planning for the future

We are now commencing a number of pre-application workstreams, including dialogues with the Council and undertaking technical studies which will help inform how the development will progress and the form it will take.

A planning application will be submitted once all the workstreams and pre-application studies have been completed. This will be during 2018.

There is strong interest in the site from National housebuilders and once consent is obtained we will undertake the key infrastructure works before selling the serviced parcels onto housebuilders on a phased basis.